American Academy Blog

Diagnosis and Treatment of Children with Attachment Disorders

December 13, 2013 at 12:12 pmComments are off for this post

“These are among the most challenging clients to diagnose and treat in the mental health arena. Our multi-agency study group has been meeting for five years and has issued best/promising practice guidelines for mental health, social services, and the courts, based on both anecdotal and research reports.

For instance, recent research has pinpointed areas of the brain which indicate high/low aggression as well as high/low empathy, and these areas may be genetic. If a child has a brain scan indicating genetic high aggression/low empathy, for instance, that child will need a loving, nurturing environment to thrive. If not, that child may be at high risk of psychopathy. (James Fallon’s research.)

Why do some children, adopted at birth by loving caretakers, appear to be attachment disordered, and conversely, why do some children with little or no early nurturing appear to be normal?

Perhaps brain scans of foster/adopt caretakers should also be mandatory to ensure low aggression/high empathy.